The Diplomat
The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Jayhun Bayramov, paid an official visit to Madrid yesterday, during which he invited Spanish companies to participate in the projects being carried out by his country in sectors such as tourism and alternative energies.
Baymarov was first received by his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares, at the ministerial headquarters of the Palacio de Viana. During the meeting, which coincided “with the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations” – as the head of the Spanish diplomacy recalled on his official Twitter account – the two ministers agreed to deepen bilateral relations and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation between the diplomatic schools of the two countries.
At the press conference following the meeting, Albares and Baymarov stressed the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation in such areas as economy, trade, high technology, energy, science, tourism, culture and others.
The Azerbaijani minister also informed the Spaniard about the situation in the region in the context of his country’s conflict with Armenia and about the reconstruction work being carried out in the so-called liberated areas, in addition to mine clearance, support for displaced persons and measures taken to establish peace. He also explained that his government has developed “extensive work” in the sectors of tourism, alternative energies, agriculture and mining in the industrialized areas and assured that “there are prospects for extensive cooperation with Spanish companies” in these fields.
For his part, Albares stressed the “interest of Spanish companies in investing in Azerbaijan” and the prospects of “broad cooperation in tourism, trade and economy” and assured that the European Union supports the mediation efforts in the region and is ready to contribute to peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He also stated that Spain supports the development of the European Union relations with Azerbaijan and will be more actively involved in this process during the next Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2023.
After this meeting, Jayhun Bayramov was received by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, before whom he defended the prospects for bilateral cooperation in trade, energy and tourism. In this sense, he informed about the energy projects in Azerbaijan and the possibility for Spanish companies to participate in them and recalled that tourism has been particularly important for the cooperation between the two countries. He also assured that Azerbaijan offers, within the framework of peace-building measures, great opportunities for cooperation in the mining industry, agriculture, tourism and alternative energies.
For her part, Maroto assured that the Caucasian country is an important trade partner and that mutual investments are important and showed Spain’s interest in increasing economic, trade and tourism cooperation with Azerbaijan. In this regard, she recalled that Spain offers great opportunities in infrastructure, construction and alternative energy resources.
Spain recognized the independence of Azerbaijan on December 31, 1991 and diplomatic relations between the two states were established on February 11, 1992. The first high-level meetings between senior Azerbaijani and Spanish officials took place in 1995, when the then Foreign Ministers met. At the end of 2005, Azerbaijan opened its Embassy in Madrid, and a diplomatic mission of Spain has been operating in Baku since 2014. In 2021, the volume of trade between Azerbaijan and Spain amounted to 645.8 million dollars.
